The Music of Life

Biology Beyond Genes

Denis Noble

Tackles the big issue of how biologists should seek to understand life itself

This short, personal, and lyrical book uses the metaphor of music to present a "systems biology" view of life

Urges a change in the way we think about life--can be considered today's equivalent to Erwin Schrodinger's classic essay "What is Life?"

With a foreword by the Nobel laureate and "father" of systems biology, Sydney Brenner

The Music of Life

Biology Beyond Genes

Denis Noble

Description

The gene's eye view of life, proposed in Richard Dawkins acclaimed bestseller The Selfish Gene, sees living bodies as mere vehicles for the replication of genetic codes. But in The Music of Life, world renowned physiologist Denis Noble argues that, to truly understand life, we must look beyond the "selfish gene" to consider life on a much wider variety of levels. Life, Noble asserts, is a kind of music, a symphonic interplay between genes, cells, organs, body, and environment. He weaves this musical metaphor throughout this personal and deeply lyrical work, illuminating ideas that might otherwise be daunting to non-scientists. In elegant prose, Noble sets out a cutting-edge alternative to the gene's eye view, offering a radical switch of perception in which genes are seen as prisoners and the organism itself is a complex system of many interacting levels. In his more expansive view, life emerges as a process, the ebb and flow of activity in an intricate web of connections. He introduces readers to the realm of systems biology, a field that has been growing in strength in the past decade. Noble, himself one of the founders of this field, argues modern systems biology may be the view we need to adopt to gain a deeper understanding of the nature of life. Drawing on his experiences in his research on the heartbeat, and on evolutionary biology, development, medicine, philosophy, linguistics, and Chinese culture, Noble presents us with a profound and very modern reflection on the nature of life.

The Music of Life

Biology Beyond Genes

Denis Noble

Table of Contents

1. The CD of Life: the genome2. The organ of 30,000 pipes3. The Score: is it written down?4. The Conductor: downward causation5. The Rhythm Section: the heartbeat and other rhythms6. The Orchestra: the organs and systems of the body7. Modes and Keys: cellular harmony8. The Composer: evolution9. The Opera Theatre: the brain10. Curtain Call: The artist disappears

The Music of Life

Biology Beyond Genes

Denis Noble

Author Information

Denis Noble is Emeritus Professor of Cardiovascular Physiology at the University of Oxford. He was Chairman of the International Union of Physiological Sciences World Congress in 1993, and Secretary-General of IUPS from 1993-2001.